Grand Slam Masters Final to start in São Paulo, Brazil

9/22/2011 – The Grand Slam Masters final is set to take place, and continuing the new trend of sharing the event with a partner city, the organizers in Bilbao, Spain have chosen São Paulo this year to host the first half. The participants are World Champion Viswanathan Anand, world number one Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Vasily Ivanchuk, and Francisco Vallejo Pons. Don't miss it!

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The Grand Slam Masters final is set to take place, and continuing the new trend of sharing the event with a partner city, the organizers have chosen São Paulo this year to host the first half of this mega tournament. Scheduled to start on September 25th with the opening ceremony, the first round will start on Monday, September 26. The purpose of this collaboration is to promote closer cultural, institutional, economic and educational ties between both cities.

The mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna, and the mayor of Sao Paulo, Gilberto Kassab sign
the agreement via video conference.

The pact between Bilbao and Sao Paulo was signed this very afternoon by the mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna, and the mayor of Sao Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, who communicated with each other by video conference. The signing took place in the presence of qualified witnesses on each side of the ocean: Tomás Gonzalez Pérez, president of the Spain-Brazil Chamber of Commerce in Bilbao and Cristina Elisa Aguilar Jiménez consul of Spain in Sao Paulo.

The participants this year are:

Viswanathan Anand (India) - World Champion

Magnus Carlsen (Norway) - World Number One

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) - winner of Wijk Aan Zee 2011, ahead of Anand

Levon Aronian (Armenia) - world number three and winner of the 2009 edition.

Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - world number six and third in the World Cup

Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) - Top Spanish-born player and second at Reggio Emilia

The games will be played in Ibirapuera Park in the center of the Brazilian mega-city and in the Alhóndiga in Bilbao. In both locales the players will compete in the sound-proof and air-conditioned glass venue that was inaugurated in the 2008 Masters Final.

Be sure to tune in to Playchess where the ever-popular commentator Daniel King will be sharing his insights into the action.

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On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!